Ain o Salish Kendra (ASK) condemns the arrest of special correspondent of ‘Daily Manobjomin’ in Sylhet under the charge of an alleged rape and also the assault on the general secretary of Barisal press club.

According to media reports, special correspondent of the ‘Daily Manobjomin’ in Sylhet, Chowdhury Mumtaz Ahmed had been arrested on 19 August 2014 and a rape case was filed against him following the arrest. His colleagues believe that the rape case is a fabricated one and the arrest is linked to his investigative report regarding a ex-police personnel.

Furthermore, the general secretary of Barisal Press Club and local bureau chief of ‘Daily Shamakal’, Pulok Chatterjee were injured as he was attacked by three perpetrators with sharp weapons on 18 August 2014. He is undergoing medical treatment in the hospital as a result of attack. His family members are concerned that he had been the victim of this attack due to his professional work.

We observe with grave concern that threats from public representatives, incidents of arrest and attack by party cadres of ruling political party on the journalists are jeopardizing their freedom of expression and putting them at risk because of their work. It must be mentioned that the continued demand from ASK for effective actions to ensure physical security and independent functioning of the journalists have not yet been realized. We think,  prevalence of such environment severely violates the rights of freedom of expression and independence of the media which are universally recognised and safeguarded by the constitution.